


I Can't See

by JMount74



Series: Febuwhump [12]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Blindness, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29683812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: A chance to take his exosuit out - what could go wrong?
Series: Febuwhump [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137590
Kudos: 7





	I Can't See

**Author's Note:**

> For such-a-random-rambler’s prompt spin: Trapped + Wreckage + John; and the Febuwhump prompt 18: ‘I Can’t See’

John loved his exosuit. Before Brains had designed it, John’s involvement in iR had been limited to what he used to compare to a ‘call centre’ – answering the calls for help and directing help. Sure, he knew it was a really important job, but just sometimes he wanted to be able to actually help.

It had been a combination of Virgil and Brains working on his big brother for weeks before Scott had agreed that John needed a suit. Scott understood, maybe better than anyone, why he needed to be more involved, but he had been reluctant to sign off on an exosuit to be used in space. So many things could go wrong.

Today John looked likely to add to that list.

Alan had offered to fly up to help, but it was a straight-forward manoeuvring of a satellite solar panel to restore energy so it could maintain it’s orbit, and John relished the ability to get out and fly. Sometimes his brothers forgot that he could be just as much as a flyboy as Virgil was – both had other interests, but flying was in their blood.

What John wasn’t expecting was that an unmanned satellite could possibly have defences. No one had mentioned that, and it was not in any schematics he had found. EOS was desperately scanning to find something while John dipped and twirled and spun to avoid the laser currently trying to kill him.

She found something, but it was definitely not what any of them wanted. Alan had launched at the first sign of trouble, but John wouldn’t let him near while the defence mechanisms were still engaged. Why were they there? Two words from EOS explained everything.

The Mechanic. His software was all over the station, and from what EOS was seeing, this was only the start. John asked if she could shut it down, and she could, but without being able to see what traps the Mechanic had left. He knew how to shield his stuff.

Conferring with Scott and Brains, they decided unanimously to shut the station down. No way could they leave an armed satellite floating free. So EOS did her thing and sent in a kill code, intending to shut everything down so John and Alan could enter and dismantle it.

Unfortunately, the kill code did just that, and John had only a five-second warning from EOS that the station was about to explode. There was no chance to get clear. He was assaulted by the brightest light he had ever seen before the station imploded – and he knew no more.

Alan, still some distance away, was caught in the shockwave, with Three spinning further away. Fighting for control, he was aware of Scott shouting for John to respond, and for a brief heartbeat he thought he’d lost Three completely. But she didn’t let him down, and he patted her console and thanked her as he pointed Three towards the wreckage and his unresponsive brother.

The wreck of the satellite was widespread, and Alan took to his space board as he got closer, EOS in his ear, the AI still trying to find John amidst the debris field. Eventually, after what seemed like hours but was only about ten minutes, she located him. 

Alan frowned. The area where EOS had directed him was a twisted mass of solar panel and space station, and he couldn’t see…wait…that was a flash of yellow with a red stripe inside the mess! It looked like the station had swallowed John and his exosuit. His brother was trapped in the wreckage well and truly.

Tin can opener at the ready, Alan gently manoeuvred the mass back closer to Three before attempting to cut his brother free. EOS confirmed that his suit itself was sound, so Alan set about cutting away the debris piece by piece, peeling it away until he had John free.

He brought his brother on board and strapping him in, Alan scanned his vitals while relaying the information back to both the island and Five. Unconscious, couple of possible cracked ribs from the concussive effect of the blast, possible minor concussion. His head was flagging up amber to red, meaning there was possible damage, but Alan was unsure if he was reading it right. Possible trauma to his eyes? Regardless, he needed to get John to the infirmary on the island, and he set off as fast as was safe.

Everyone was waiting when Alan landed, and John was in the infirmary with Grandma and Virgil before long. Scott took Alan to one side and spoke quietly with him, knowing Alan would feel guilty that he had not been closer, had not been able to help.

It took a couple of hours for John to start waking up, and when he did the first thing he noticed was the dark. It hurt to move though, and he racked his brain trying to work out what had happened to him. He felt Virgil sit down beside him and gently take hold of one hand.

Why was it dark? With his free hand he gingerly felt his face. His eyes were bandaged. He frowned and looked towards where he guessed Virgil was, and heard his brother sigh. ‘You have some trauma to your eyes, John. That explosion was really bright, and you were right in front of it. The bandages are to make sure you rest your eyes for a couple of days to give them time to settle.’

Couple of days he could deal with. Hell, John was tired enough that he would probably sleep for most of the time, and he drifted off as Virgil was telling him about cracked ribs and how lucky he had been because his exosuit and prevented damage to his spacesuit.

The next time he woke up the shifting in the chair next to him told him Virgil had been replaced by Scott. His brother never could sit still. He reached out for Scott’s hand, and sure enough, it was right by his own. Scott squeezed gently and John repeated the action back. No words were needed and the two sat like that, completely quiet, for quite a while before John drifted off again.

The time had come to take off the bandages. Grandma and Virgil were the only ones in the room, he knew because Grandma had said so, and she had warned him it may take longer for his eyes to heal up completely. Once the bandages had been removed John blinked rapidly, clearing the tears from his eyes watering in the light even though he hadn’t opened them yet.

His family were patient. John opened his eyes gradually, looking around him. Nothing was different. He felt Virgil’s hand on his shoulder. ‘John?’ was all he said, and John turned in the direction of the voice.

‘I can’t see,’ he replied. ‘It’s just, just really dark.’ Virgil sighed. ‘We knew it might take longer; you need to be patient. Your sight will come back.’ He squeezed John’s shoulder, and John reached up and patted his hand. 

One thing John was very good at was patience.


End file.
